surrey police board votes to 'gag' chief; bans comments on local, b.c. government decisions
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the surrey police board adopted new rules wednesday that ban the new chief and other police executive from commenting publicly on city hall or provincial government decisions.
the changes came during the first public meeting since chief norm lipinski was ousted, and it was a raucous meeting with the entire board walking out during the question-and-answer period.
the directive comes after lipinski’s public comments on a number of police concerns, including the problems policing cloverdale, cutting the gang unit, and tiffs between him and the mayor.
police officials are now not allowed to comment on government decisions, criticize the police board or its directors, or any municipal or provincial officials.
the new governance rule is not going over well with the police union.
in a letter sent to union members and obtained by postmedia news, its president ryan buhrig stated the new directive raises serious concerns.
“after reviewing both the directive and the report supporting it, the surrey police union is concerned that what is being presented as a governance measure is effectively a gag order restricting the ability of police leaders and spokespersons to speak publicly on matters affecting policing and public safety,” buhrig wrote.
had the directive been in place since the beginning of the sps, buhrig questioned how much lipinski would have been able to say.
the former chief spoke out against the province forcing sps to fully police the cloverdale neighbourhood earlier than it was prepared to, leading to the gang unit being cut.
lipinski also criticized the city for approving a police budget $47 million less than what the service was asking for.
surrey mayor brenda locke and lipinski had been at odds since the beginning of the policing transition, which locke opposed and campaigned on stopping. she took the province to court over the transition, but lost and the policing change away from the rcmp was forced on the city.
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lipinski was terminated without cause on june 1 by the board. the board’s chair, harley chappell, however, was not at the meeting and said he was not told about the motion before the meeting. in protest, chappell resigned the next day, two days after that, another board director also resigned.
james carwana, the second director to resign, could not be reached for comment but a source told postmedia that he was the sole vote against terminating lipinski.
“i think this certainly affects recruiting,” buhrig said of the recent board actions.
surrey police are still hiring officers to complete the transition, with the guildford-fleetwood area still policed by the rcmp.
“i am very concerned about some of the decisions that this board has made, and what that could mean for independence of police chiefs,” buhrig said. “i’ve never seen a directive this restrictive in terms of what police officials are allowed or not allowed to say.”
buhrig also pointed out that the board directors were all agreed to by locke, and this new directive is suspicious given the municipal election is approaching.
but board chair perm jawanda denied the motion was related to lipinski’s termination, despite the motion mentioning the former chief by name.
“it doesn’t have anything to do with chief lipinski,” jawanda told reporters. “this is just — we’re a newer board, and so we’re very focused on oversight and governance.”
she reiterated that the board had “no reason” against lipinski specifically, just that the board wanted to go in a different direction.
the new board chair was also asked about chappell and politicians’ accusation that the decision to terminate lipinski was politically influenced.
“i don’t see the political influence. i sit on the board,” jawanda said. “the board has made decisions based upon where we think the board should be going and the priorities that we have, and there is no political interference within those decisions.”
rob stutt, a city councillor and police board member at the board meeting wednesday.
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during the question-and-answer period of the meeting, some heated members of the public took to the microphone. one in particular was former police board member cheney cloke, who accused board director rob stutt of having a conflict of interest. stutt is on mayor brenda locke’s council and was a former rcmp officer.
all of the comments from the public were about stutt, demands for answers about lipinski’s firing and questions about how to trust the police service.
cloke also turned to the attendees and asked if they think the police board is working for them, leading to a loud “no” from the audience. she also told the board to resign, leading to loud applause.
stutt then walked out of the meeting, with the other directors following, with the crowd filled with police, politicians and residents booing the board. they returned after a recess.
the board is still not saying how much taxpayers are expected to pay for lipinski’s severance.
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